Bashara Charged With Solicitation to Murder; Husband Hired a Second Hitman

Aired June 27, 2012 - 20:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. Wife and working mom Jane Bashara laid to rest as residents in one of America`s wealthiest towns pour into a local funeral home, her body heavily bruised, fingernails torn off, dressed in black slacks, green shirt, bedroom shoes, found wedged down between the front and back seats of her Mercedes SUV.

But then a girlfriend and a so-called sex dominatrix emerge as her husband, the president of the Rotary Club, says he`s innocent and goes to the funeral.

But then the family handyman`s implicated in Jane`s murder. And the husband, Big Bob, announces he and Jane had an "open marriage" and Jane, now dead, was, quote, "OK with that."

Bombshell tonight. In the last hours, busted! Husband big Bob Bashara allegedly takes out a hit on the hitman handyman just hours before the handyman appears in court to talk. And according to our investigation, big Bob is caught on tape (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Solicitation to commit murder, accusing him of trying to hire a hitman to kill his handyman, Joseph Gentz.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators say they have both video and audio of Bashara attempting to order a hit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Bashara paid -- there was an exchange of money -- this other individual to kill Mr. Gentz.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he believes that this is all part of a setup.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was Gentz who says he was forced by Bob at gunpoint to strangle Jane inside the Basharas` garage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is a sick assessment on his part. It just shows how deranged he is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Bashara allegedly wanted Mr. Gentz killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has no idea why he has been arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that they`ve made me the person of interest is unthinkable to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.

Bombshell tonight. Wife and working mom Jane Bashara`s body found in slacks, bedroom shoes, heavily bruised, fingernails torn off her fingers, body wedged between the seats of her SUV. After a handyman is set to take the fall for her murder, in the last hours, busted! Husband Big Bob Bashara allegedly takes out a hit on the hitman handyman behind bars just hours before the handyman is set to appear in court.

And according to our investigation, Big Bob is busted on tape. Well, he denied any involvement in his wife`s murder from the very get-go, both of them leaders in their community. He`s the president of the Rotary Club, rolling in money, owning several rental properties. Coincidence -- in the bottom of one of them is an S&M chamber. That`s a whole different can of worms.

Straight out to you, Rob Davidek, news director of WWJ. Rob, thank you for being with us. What is this I`m hearing about Big Bob Bashara -- and hey, those are -- that`s his name, not mine. That`s what he`s got on a vanity plate on the back of his Escalade.

ROB DAVIDEK, WWJ NEWSRADIO 950 (via telephone): That is right.

GRACE: What`s this about him being caught on tape hiring a hitman to kill the hitman behind bars?

DAVIDEK: Nancy, developments all day today, Bob Bashara charged with solicitation of murder for going after Joe Gentz. Joe Gentz is the guy who was charged with murder in the case of Jane Bashara. As you mentioned, her body was found back in January.

But today, Bob Bashara was charged with solicitation of murder. The prosecutor`s saying that Bashara was talking with a couple of different people between June 8th and June 25th. He had several meetings and actually paid upwards of $2,000...

GRACE: Whoa! Wait a minute!

DAVIDEK: ... that Joe Gentz...

GRACE: Wait a minute! Clark Goldband, he spoke to a couple of people. What`s he doing, a cost comparison?

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, it`s a good question. And also, if reports are to believe, the person who`s already charged with the murder of Bob Bashara`s wife allegedly is claiming that he was paid about $2,000 and a used Cadillac.

GRACE: 2,000 bucks and a used Cadillac. OK, Jean Casarez, from the very beginning, Bob Bashara declared his innocence and seemed actually indignant that he was asked to, for instance, give a handwriting sample.

Let`s take it from the top. This is what we know right now, everybody. The husband, Bob Bashara, a very well-to-do family there in one of the richest communities in our country, claiming no involvement in his wife`s murder. But in the last hours, that house of cards has fallen apart.

Take it from the beginning, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": Well, Nancy, Jane Bashara -- she was found murdered in her Mercedes, strangled to death. She was a very successful businesswoman in the Detroit, Michigan, area. And no one knew what had happened, but it wasn`t very long before Joseph Gentz came forward and said, Look, I did it, OK? I murdered Jane Bashara, but you know what? It was in the garage, and Bob Bashara pointed a gun at me, promised me $2,000 and a Cadillac, and I strangled her. But he made me do it.

GRACE: You know, she put up quite a fight. Out to Dr. Bill Manion, joining us from Omaha tonight. Dr. Manion, her nails were literally torn off her fingers, heavy, heavy bruising from the waist up, and her windpipe was actually crushed, Bill.

DR. BILL MANION, MEDICAL EXAMINER (via telephone): I understand. And that just goes to show you how it is difficult to kill a healthy, athletic- type woman. I mean, this woman is only in her early 50s and put up a great fight. And hopefully, because of that fight, they`ll be able to find some of his skin under her nails. They`ll be able to find -- I understand there may have been a shoe imprint left on her throat. They may be able to measure the shoe imprint and try to match it back to the shoes he was wearing.

And through forensic evidence, I understand they now found blood in the garage, they can trace that blood either to her or him, that would be very helpful in the case.

GRACE: Back to Rob Davidek, news director, WWJ, joining us. Rob, I want to go back to how the husband has gotten implicated because that`s been a real mystery to everybody, how it went this long without him being actually implicated. When I heard the news, the wires break, that Bob Bashara had been arrested for solicitation to commit murder, I assumed it was the murder of his wife.

No, it`s the murder of the handyman behind bars set to come to court.

DAVIDEK: Yes, that`s right. And it was a surprise, I think, to everybody in that here Bob Bashara -- you know, we`re waiting for the charges -- the murder charges in the case, and yet now we get the solicitation. We don`t know when the murder charges are going to come, if they`re ever going to come.

GRACE: Well, here`s the reality. Unleash the lawyers, Jennifer Smetters, Holly Hughes, Darryl Cohen. Darryl Cohen, if he is busted on tape, as our sources say, trying to kill the hitman behind bars, why would he do that if he wasn`t involved in his wife`s murder?

DARRYL COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Why wouldn`t he, Nancy? He`s so emotionally distraught as a result of his wife being murdered by his handyman, the person that worked for them, he wanted to get revenge and get even. Doesn`t mean he`s thinking rationally, doesn`t mean he`s doing what he should do, according to the law, but according to his law of survival, he`s doing exactly what he should do, in his opinion.

GRACE: Well, Holly Hughes, don`t you think it sounds more like a fingerprint crime because now he`s apparently offering another 2 grand, just like the first time, to a new hitman. Holly, what it boils down to is the hitman hires a hitman to kill the hitman. Get it?

HOLLY HUGHES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, that`s the allegation, but to me, it sounds like, you know, same song, second verse same as the first. another $2,000? Really? I want to hear the tape. I don`t know that this man did anything wrong. Sounds like entrapment. It could be entrapment, for all we know. They couldn`t get him for the murder of his wife, so let`s send somebody else in there and say, Hey, you know what? If I were you, I`d take this guy out. We don`t know what`s on the tape. We don`t know the credibility of the person who allegedly got him to admit it.

GRACE: Joining me right now, a special guest, the attorney for Bashara`s former girlfriend. This is not the dominatrix. Rachel Gillett, a secretary at a local college, lost her job when all of this broke, and now she is in fear for her life. With me, Doraid Elder joining us. Doraid, thank you for being with us.

DORAID ELDER, ATTORNEY FOR BASHARA`S FORMER GIRLFRIEND (via telephone): Thank you for having me.

GRACE: You know, how did your client, Rachel Gillett, get involved in all of this?

ELDER: Well, she was pulled into this by Bob Bashara`s manipulation and lying. And she didn`t know he was married at the time they started a relationship. And he duped her into believing that he`s a single man.

GRACE: So explain this to me. It`s my understanding that Bashara`s girlfriend is also in fear of her life after she gets, I believe it was, a crucifix in her mailbox that she believes came from Bashara`s church. And also a handwritten letter with her initials on the front that she says he wrote.

ELDER: She -- at the time, she tried to end the relationship with Bob Bashara, and he refused to allow it to end. And she -- she spoke to him. She -- I spoke to his attorney, asked him to have Bob stay away from Rachel. We tried to do it the civil way, but he refused. He showed up at her home. He left stuff in her mailbox, the crucifix, and caused some fear for Rachel. And we ended up getting a personal protection order against him to keep him away from Rachel.

GRACE: OK, with me, everybody, is the girlfriend, Rachel Gillett`s, attorney, Doraid Elder. My question is this. How long do you think it will be before Bashara tries to put the blame on your client?

I`m just going to refer to her as the girlfriend so we can keep it all straight because, frankly, Doraid, I mean, you couldn`t make this up. You`ve got these two rich people. You got Bashara and his wife, Jane. They have two great children, now grown. They should be living the good life. Instead, she`s found dead, her body wedged between the front and back seats of her SUV. She clearly put up a fight to save her life, Doraid.

Now it all starts unfolding. You got Bob Bashara involved with a dominatrix, lady -- what`s her name? What`s her name, Mike? Lady Gillian (ph), something like that? You find a sex dungeon in one of his rental properties. Then it comes out he`s got a girlfriend who he won`t leave alone. I understand that she`s basically going into hiding.

ELDER: Well, she obviously left the state. And just to answer your question, the blame in terms of having Rachel a person of interest -- he`s already tried that. Weeks ago, his lawyer indicated that they believe that Rachel is one of the people of interest that may be to blame here, which is absolutely ludicrous and is as far from the truth as possible. But they`d already tried to play that card.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators say they have both video and audio of Bashara attempting to order a hit on this man, Joe Gentz.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he believes that this is all part of a setup.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when the job was done...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The area handyman who once worked for Bashara and confessed to killing Bashara`s wife, Jane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was to meet the same fate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we were done, he said, You -- to me, I think you failed the polygraph. You haven`t told me the truth. And I said to him, I`ve told you everything I know. I`ve been truthful on everything. The fact that they`ve named me the person of interest is unthinkable to me, that they think I could harm my sweetheart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: As it all turns out, in the last hours, we learn that the husband, Big Bob Bashara, seemingly is caught on tape hiring a hitman to kill the hitman, the handyman, behind bars.

OK, I want to go out to a special guest joining us, in addition to this so-called girlfriend`s lawyer joining us today, Doraid Elder, another special guest, Angela Adelman. This is the handyman`s former sister-in- law.

GRACE: You know, I understand through court records that the original hitman -- he is -- he is saying -- he`s admitted he killed Jane Bashara, but that he was forced to by Bob Bashara, his employer, only has an IQ of 67. Yet when he has been, let me just say, examined by specialists, they say he`s absolutely competent to stand trial.

Angela, what do you think happened?

ADELMAN: I think he`s competent to stand trial, but Joe doesn`t -- he doesn`t have book smarts, but he has a little bit of street smarts. But he`ll do -- if you ask him to do something, he`ll do it. And if you offer him something to do it, he`ll do it -- you know, jump at the opportunity to do that.

GRACE: But it seems to me that anybody would know it`s wrong to murder.

ADELMAN: I agree. He knows it`s wrong. But Joe -- he doesn`t -- sometimes he doesn`t separate right from wrong like normal people do. You know, he figures, Well, I need the money, so I`m going to do this, you know?

And you know, I believe that he probably felt like, you know, I got to do this because this man`s threatening me. I am not in any way saying that he should not be charged and he should not -- he`s not wrong. Yes, he`s wrong for what he did and he should be charged. But I also think that, you know, he did what he did because he felt like he had to.

GRACE: What do you think is the version of what happened the evening that Jane Bashara was murdered?

ADELMAN: I honestly believe that he did it because he felt that he had to, that he was threatened and told, You do this or I`m going to kill you.

GRACE: Why do you believe that? Has Gentz told you that?

ADELMAN: No, I haven`t talked to him. I have not talked to him in many years. But I know Joe. When he was with my sister, him and my sister, were married, Joe was a very loving person. He was the type of person that would do anything for you. Anything you asked him to do, he would do for you. He just was that kind of person.

GRACE: Why did they get a divorce?

ADELMAN: Because he -- Honestly, he had to -- it was a choice between staying here or going back to Michigan to his family, and he chose to go back to Michigan. And that was the choice he made, and that`s why they got divorced.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bob Bashara.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Found himself under arrest not for her murder, but for trying to take out a hit on the hitman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I loved my wife. She meant everything to me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had no idea why he had been arrested. He was shocked when I told him what the charge was going to be. I think he believes that this is all part of a setup. And it doesn`t happen to me often, but I`m speechless.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you have to say about this Joe guy, who...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have nothing to say.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My sister and I really support our dad throughout all of this. And we just miss our mom so much. We`re just trying to get through this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have nothing to say about this Joe guy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He says he was paid to kill your wife. What do you have to say about that?

GRACE: In the last hours, you are seeing Bob Bashara at a bond hearing, the husband of Jane Bashara now busted on solicitation of murder, but no, not his wife`s murder, but instead allegedly hiring a hitman to kill the hitman who murdered his wife.

We are taking your calls. I want to go back to Angela Adelman. This is the handyman`s former sister-in-law. What is your opinion of Bashara`s bond being set at $15 million?

ADELMAN: I honestly think that he deserves that. I think that`s fair for him.

GRACE: You know, to Rob Davidek, news director, WWJ. I wonder where this leads, all the parties in this case. You`ve got the girlfriend who claims she`s in fear for her life, going into hiding. It makes me wonder what she knows, if anything, about Jane Bashara`s murder. You`ve got Gentz sitting like a sitting duck behind bars, the handyman that murdered the wife. So where does it leave us with bond being set, Rob Davidek?

DAVIDEK: Well, right now, $15 million cash bond. If he comes up with that, Bob Bashara`s basically going to be under house arrest because the magistrate said he has to surrender his passport and driver`s license. It was interesting, Nancy. Just one little thing. The prosecutor wanted $25 million, saying that Bashara is unraveling. And Bashara was up on video shaking his head as in, No, I`m not unraveling at all. Obviously, his defense wanted the lower bond, saying, Hey, he`s met everything the police asked him to do, come in for lie detector tests and polygraph tests and also...

GRACE: Which he failed. You know he failed the lie detector, Jean Casarez.

CASAREZ: ... the lie detector test. He was a person of interest from almost the beginning in his wife`s murder. And what`s very interesting in all of this is that Joseph Gentz, whose life was at stake, was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Well, you have to conspire with somebody, and that`s a question that`s never been answered.

GRACE: Out to Jennifer Smetters, joining us out of Chicago. You know, Jennifer, the charges here are all across the board. You`ve got murder, solicitation to commit murder. It all falls apart when you start hiring hitmen. And apparently, he talked to not one but several people in his attempt to commit murder.

JENNIFER SMETTERS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Yes, it makes it really hard to carry off a defense for entrapment, in my mind. And what I find interesting, as well, is that it`s not a flat-out denial. Their -- his legal team is jumping to entrapment, which means whatever those law enforcement authorities and the prosecutors have on that tape or audio recording must be very, very damaging because it`s not a flat-out denial.

GRACE: You know, you`re right. And what Jennifer Smetters is saying is that cops tricked him into the confession or the act itself.

To Caryn Stark, psychologist, joining us out of New York. I understand that now Bob Bashara is on suicide watch. Interesting he didn`t feel like killing himself after his wife was found murdered, wedged in the SUV. But now that he`s been arrested, he`s suicidal.

CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: And what do we believe about that, Nancy? That makes absolutely no sense. Our hearts are not going to break for this man. Here is somebody who was trying to kill the person whom he may have hired. And then you wonder, is he going to kill the person who kills the person who kills the person? I mean, he`s a criminal. That`s the kind of mentality that you`re talking about. I don`t think he has the feelings to try and kill himself, quite frankly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the latest twist in the Grosse Pointe Park murder mystery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Solicitation to commit murder, accusing him of trying to hire a hitman to kill his handyman, Joseph Gentz.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators say they have both video and audio of Bashara attempting to order a hit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Bashara paid -- there was an exchange of money -- this other individual to kill Mr. Gentz.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he believes that this is all part of a setup.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was Gentz who says he was forced by Bob at gunpoint to strangle Jane inside the Basharas` garage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a sick assessment on his part. It just shows how deranged he is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Bashara allegedly wanted Mr. Gentz killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had no idea why he had been arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that they`ve named me the person of interest is unthinkable to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there any motive that you could have had to kill your wife?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. None.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Financial?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Didn`t want to be married to her anymore?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None whatsoever. We had a very good, open relationship.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you scared for the day that the police may come for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m frightened about this. To know that I could spend the rest of my life in jail for a crime I didn`t commit is a very scary thing.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you fighting this until the end?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. I did nothing wrong. I didn`t commit murder. I didn`t pay to have my wife killed. I`m going to see this through to the end, and I`m innocent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That is Bob Bashara on ABC`s "GMA," that`s one of his children, his daughter, sitting beside him in the interview.

I`m just trying to get my arms around, his wife is dead, murdered. His daughter`s sitting beside him and he`s referring to his and his wife`s good, open relationship. Somehow I don`t think Jane Bashara had any idea she was in an open relationship. But now that the girlfriend, Rachel Gillette and the S&M dominatrix lady Gianna has come forward, I guess it was more open than Jane knew about that.

So many developments in the last couple of hours, Jean. But let`s take it from the top. Start at the beginning, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Well, the beginning of the beginning is that Jane Bashara was found murdered in her Mercedes in an alley way in Detroit. Her husband, Big Bob Bashara, person of interest almost immediately. Former president of the Rodeo Club, found out he was very wealthy. Had a lot of rental homes. Then it was found in one of the rental places, that at the bottom was an alleged dungeon with -- I can`t even say the word, Nancy, dominatrix.

And then it was discovered that there was a group --

GRACE: Dominatrix, Jean.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

GRACE: You know -- you know what, you`re going to have to brush on it if you -- going to continue covering this case.

CASAREZ: No, I`ll let you say it every time.

GRACE: Because one or two more may pop up. Go ahead.

CASAREZ: I`ll let you say it. And so then after that, it just went on, but Joseph Gentz comes forward saying, I did it all, but I had a gun pointed at my head, yes, I was going to get $2,000 and a Cadillac, but I had to do it because I was going to get killed myelf.

GRACE: OK, you know, how does that fit into the equation?

Woody Tripp, former police commander. Yes, I got a Cadillac, 2,000 bucks, and oh, yes, he was going to kill me, too. You know, you, as a big cop then a police commander, know that you don`t have your life threatened and then they just throw in 2,000 bucks and a Cadillac. That`s just not the way coerced murders happen.

And another thing, Woody Tripp, all this business about their happy marriage? I`ve got a very strong inclination that the murder victim, Jane Bashara, had no idea she was in an open marriage.

WOODY TRIPP, FORMER POLICE COMMANDER, POLYGRAPH EXPERT: Well, Nancy, I think, you know, Mr. Bashara is telling that story. So based on that, you know, and I don`t care who tells it, I don`t care who hears it. I think in Mr. Gentz` case, I`m almost willing to believe as a police investigator that Gentz figured out that Bashara was coming to get him. And he said, you know what, just like any of the mob guys, you know what, I`ll take my chances with the cops versus what Bashara is going to do for me considering everything that I know about him. And I think that`s what motivated him to ultimately go to the authorities.

GRACE: You know, Woody, you and I tried and covered a lot of murder cases together. And it all starts falling apart when you hire a hitman. And here, here`s Bashara, also known as Big Bob, according to his vanity plate, on his Escalade, cost comparison shopping, he`s talked to several people about taking out a hit on the hitman behind bars. That`s how he gets busted, Tripp.

TRIPP: Yes, obviously --

GRACE: He didn`t get busted for trying to murder of his wife.

TRIPP: And he obviously hasn`t seen any of the movies, Nancy, that most of those are based on real life that, you know, the more you shop, the more chance you`re going to get busted. And guess what, wow, none of us saw this coming, he gets busted.

GRACE: You know, to Steve Moore, former fed with the FBI, violent crime investigator, joining me out of L.A. I want to talk about what clearly is going to be either a wiretap on the hitman, or audio and video taping of Bashara trying to hire someone to kill the hitman behind bars.

How do you think they did it, Steve? Either they wired up the hitman-to- be, or they tapped Bashara`s phones. What do you think?

STEVE MOORE, FORMER FED WITH THE FBI, VIOLENT CRIME INVESTIGATOR: Well, it`s -- it could be either way. What we used to do is try to get the meeting set up in a place that we had already set up for sound and video. But if you can`t do that, you can always set it up by phone and you get -- you get some identification, you get some bonafides of the person who you were talking to, and you go from there if you don`t have the video.

GRACE: OK. For those of you who don`t conduct wiretaps all the time. Bonfide or bonafide means you get Bashara`s voice on tape so a jury can compare that voice to the voice they`re hearing, hiring a hit man for 2,000 bucks, so they can make a voice comparison. And then you also at trial, if you`re crossing your T`s and dotting your I`s, you bring in your own voice analyst to tell the jury, yes, this is the same person, this is Bob Bashara.

So, all in all, let me get this straight, out to you Clark Goldband, police say they believe that Bashara paid Gentz to kill his wife, Jane Bashara, then he shopped around and paid somebody else. He actually handed over the money, 2,000 bucks, to somebody to kill Gentz. Right?

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, that`s right, Nancy. Authorities are saying that in fact it just was not this one person, but multiple people are involved. And I just want to point out, Nancy, that according to reports, this isn`t just on audio, this may also be on videotape and the attorney for Bob Bashara has said that if this does appear on tape, he is not a ventriloquist so he`s going need to attack exactly how this tape was made.

GRACE: You know, I`m wondering how those children feel this morning, now that they are -- you know, they`ve been sitting with their dad on all these interviews, at least the daughter has, while he claims he`s innocent. Now he`s caught on tape, ordering another murder.

ROSE, CALLER FROM IOWA: Hi. Yes, I`m wondering what his alibi is, where was he supposed to be -- supposedly when she was murdered?

GRACE: I agree, Rose.

To Rob Davidek at WWJ. Rob, where was he supposed to be when Jane was murdered, the original murder?

ROB DAVIDEK, NEWS DIRECTOR, WWJ NEWSRADIO 950: You know what, Nancy, that`s one of the things that he came home and she was gone. And when back in January when she disappeared, he came home and she was gone and that started this whole -- he filed a missing person report --

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: You know, Rob, I take it you`re happily married, because I`ve got a pretty good idea where he was. He was either with the girlfriend, Rachel Gillette, with the dominatrix, Lady Gianna, for -- one of his many rental apartments, under which he has an S&M dungeon.

I`ve got a lot of ideas of where he probably was, Rob Davidek.

Scarlet in Tennessee. Hi, Scarlet. What`s your question?

SCARLET, CALLER FROM TENNESSEE: I would like to know, will he be prosecuted?

GRACE: Oh, he`s going to be prosecuted, Scarlet, for the attempted solicitation of murder on the hitman that killed his wife. But what I want to see, if it`s true, are charges on soliciting murder of his wife, all right? So right now he is really implicated in two murders, the murder that we believe goes down in their car port, in their garage, blood was found in the garage of his wife who fought for her life.

And now the solicitation by Bob Bashara, the husband, to kill the hitman that murdered his wife. So that`s two lies in peril. This as his mother- in-law gets temporary protection order from this harassing phone calls. And his girlfriend, Rachel Gillette, goes into hiding for fear of her own life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Investigators say they have both video and audio of Bashara attempting to order a hit on this man, Joe Gentz.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The area handyman who once worked for Bashara, and confessed to killing Bashara`s wife, Jane.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was to meet the same fate.

BASHARA: I absolutely had nothing to do with this. That is a sick assessment on his part and to show us how deranged he is.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He was involved with a secret S&M sex room down these stairs, he`s also repeated denied having an affair with this woman, Rachel Gillette.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is it just all lies? You know --

BASHARA: You know what? I`m not going to comment on that because it has nothing to do with the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That was Bob Bashara sitting on ABC`s "GMA." He`s sitting there with his daughter, declaring his innocence.

You know, I don`t get it. These people have this beautiful mansion, they`re driving around in Mercedes SUVs and Escalades, all these rental property that got each other. They`ve got these two beautiful children, I think one is an engineer at GE and the other is a college student. But they`re not happy. Or at least he`s not happy. So he goes outs and gets a girlfriend, Rachel Gillette, they have a three-year affair. That`s not enough.

Then he`s got a mistress. Who in the heck is Lady Gianna? Let`s see her. Lady Gianna, a local S&M -- oh, my goodness, there she is in all of who her splendor and glory. Oh, dear. OK, that`s just wrong. You can take that down right now. There you go. There you go

OK, so I don`t get it. Let`s unleash not only the lawyers, but I need a shrink in a big way on this.

Yes, you can take down those red rubber platform boots, Liz.

I need Caryn Stark, Jennifer Smetters, Holly Hughes, Darryl Cohen.

All right, Cohen.

(LAUGHTER)

DARRYL COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, I`m not sure if I know what to say, but if I was going to find a dominatrix, it would not be her. This whole thing, you can`t make this stuff up. I think that somebody is writing a book and getting a movie deal. This is crazy, this is absolutely insane. I think Bashara is --

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: OK, Liz, I think I told you I don`t want to see the nun photo again with the crucifix, I don`t need to see that.

All right, Darryl, I know I`ve asked you this many, many times. I don`t get it. They have got it all. They have got these beautiful children, this home, they`re heavily involved in their church, I mean the crucifix left in his girlfriend`s mailbox was made out of a palm, apparently after Palm Sunday.

So, you know, the girlfriend, this mistress that I know of, swingers parties. And now his defense says oh, my wife and I had an open relationship. That`s all he`s got to say? And he only wants to commit suicide when he`s arrested, not when his wife is found murdered?

COHEN: Well, Nancy, when he wants to commit suicide since he`s been arrested, that makes perfect sense. Trying to get the hitman --

GRACE: Not to me.

COHEN: -- that killed -- well, it does to me, because trying to get the hitman that killed his wife makes sense. Now Bashara is incarcerated, that`s a $15 million bond, he is now beside himself. There`s nothing he can do. His hands are tied.

GRACE: You know --

COHEN: He`s shackled.

GRACE: Holly Hughes, I -- you were around when I was still prosecuting cases and I loved nothing more than to really investigate a case and find what we call similar transactions that could be admitted in the case in chief, past crimes to prove the current crime. And in this case, you`ve got Bashara, allegedly, even paying the same amount $2,000 to hitman number two, that he paid to hitman number two.

I mean if I were number two I`d be mad, because I didn`t get a Cadillac, too, thrown into the pot. I mean --

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: -- over and over.

HOLLY HUGHES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Apparently, an all broke down Cadillac, Nancy. But here is the thing. We don`t know that he was involved with the hiring of a hitman in the first place. He has not been charged with conspiracy or solicitation in the death of his wife. He`s constantly -- I mean, Nancy, even the police didn`t take Gentz seriously. He confessed three times before the police would take a statement.

He went up there and said, hey, guys, I murdered her. Completely unsolicited. He wasn`t on the radar. And then they said yes, go away, Mr. Gentz. He goes back a second time, no, really, I killed her. And then the third time they finally take a statement so I am not sure that Bob Bashara had anything to do with what Gentz did. Because you can`t have it both way. Either you`ve got a gun to your head and you kill her because you`re being forced to or you do it for a cheap caddy and two grand.

GRACE: You know, Jennifer Smetters, with Gentz` intellect, I could see all of that being true. I mean when you take into account who Gentz is. But Jennifer Smetters, this whole revenge thing of -- on Gentz, you know, he could have done that the first time that Gentz admitted while he still out from behind bars. That would have been a lot easier hit than having him killed behind bars.

JENNIFER SMETTERS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: You know a little too late to be crying now over the death of your wife this many months being passed. To me, Nancy, this sounds like the typical narcissistic, completely controlling, can do no wrong in his mind type of guy. And it`s -- I think it`s proving himself, who he is.

GRACE: I think you`re right, Jennifer Smetters. He`s going to dig in his grave with this teeth. In other words talk himself right into a life sentence.

Caryn, Stark, I know this is rhetorical. You hear this all the time. But can`t these people be happy? They`ve got it all. You know how many people would give an arm and a leg to what what Bashara had?

CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: But you`re talking about a regular person, Nancy. You`re talking about somebody who can`t connect, you`re talking about narcissism but also no conscience. The sociopathic tendencies.

GRACE: You`re connecting with that S&M.

STARK: No, but that`s what a dominatrix is, is somebody you really can`t connect with. You`re getting sex without emotion and pain.

GRACE: Whatever.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: These men always say they had a great relationship. What about the dominatrix, lady spank me, and what about his girlfriend of three years? That`s some happy relationship, Dan.

DAN ABRAMS, ABC NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: Well, look, you know, Nancy knows more about S&M relationships than do I so I`m going to leave the -- joking. Joking.

GRACE: Yes, we`ve been arguing now for several years, you`re absolutely right, Dan.

ABRAMS: I know. Yes. Exactly. You bet, exactly. This is true.

GRACE: I think that would make me the spanker and you the spankee.

ABRAMS: It`s true. It`s true.

GRACE: Think about it.

ABRAMS: It`s true.

GRACE: I don`t want to think about it.

ABRAMS: We have established our relative positions.

GRACE: Yes, don`t, Robin. Don`t think about it.

ABRAMS: In the -- in the dominance and submission of my relationship with Nancy.

ROBIN ROBERTS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: I guess that grace period of you being a new dad has passed.

ABRAMS: Yes. Yes. Yes.

ROBERTS: With Nancy Grace no.

ABRAMS: Yes. But I have to say how lovely --

GRACE: Yes, I was going to miss you and congratulations.

ABRAMS: Thank you, Nancy. She sent me a lovely gift.

ROBERTS. I know that she did. All right, you tow. (END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That was Abrams and I this morning arguing about this on "GMA." And while it all may be true what we said, that`s all well and good. But let`s take a look at the way Jane Bashara was murdered. I mean her husband big Bob can take a whimsical approach, but let`s take a look at what happened to the murder victim in this case.

She`s guilty of nothing but being a working mom, just like most of us. Working like a dog, trying to take care of her children, trying to make a life for herself and her family.

Dr. Bill Manion, describe what this woman went through at death.

DR. BILL MANION, M.D., MEDICAL EXAMINER, BURLINGTON COUNTY, NJ: Well, it`s not as easy to murder someone by strangulation as you oftentimes see on TV. And if this was done manually using the hands, first of all, you would have to cut off the blood supply to the brain for at least 30 seconds to render a person unconscious. That did not happen in this case.

This woman put up a vigorous fight. There were evidence of broken nails found at the scene and in the Mercedes. And she`s a fairly young person it`s not a little old lady garroted from behind by an assailant.

They also mentioned that there was a footprint on her neck at autopsy, indicating that the assailant was trying to hold her down, to kill her or to render her unconscious that he`d pressed his foot against her airway and that may take even longer to make the person go unconscious because you may not be cutting off the blood supply to the brain.

There were multiple abrasions and bruises on the neck. So this took several minutes to complete, and this woman put up a strong fight and hopefully now that they`ve found blood at the scene they`ll see if it`s her blood at the scene or his blood at the scene, and also under her nails they`ll check to see if the nail -- the nail clippings, the nail fragments they recovered, they`ll check to see if any of the assailant`s DNA is under her nails.

GRACE: And ladies, imagine if all of this happened as your husband stood by and watched.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASHARA: It`s just unthinkable that this happened to her and what she had to suffer. I`m just so upset about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Not that upset, according to police. In the last hours, the husband, Bob Bashara appears in court for a bond hearing. No, not bond on the murder of his wife. Bond on him allegedly ordering a hit on a hit man that killed his wife before the hitman could talk in court. Now what does that say to you?

The last I looked, Woody Tripp, former police commander, two and two still equals four. And I`m not buying this rage theory that Darryl Cohen cooked up, because his theory is that Bashara wanted to kill the man that killed his wife.

I`m not buying that. Because if he wanted to kill Gentz, Gentz was walking free for a long time after he confessed to murder. Barchara could have killed him then.

TRIPP: You`re absolutely right. And bless Darryl`s heart, Nancy, he`s a defense attorney. I mean that`s what we expect. This is a real convoluted Web here, but I think Mr. Bashara has a lot of things that are about to get opened up that he wasn`t planning on (INAUDIBLE) which going to literally rain on his parade.

GRACE: We`re waiting to see how it all -- all unfolds. Right now we`re trying to get our mitts on what cops have on audio and video implicating the husband, the father, Bob Bashara in his wife`s murder.